Gravity
by popscb
Summary: "You cant blame Gravity for falling in love"- Albert Einstein.


Gravity

The first sign was a letter. A letter that dropped silently landed in the mail box at 8am on Monday morning. The manila envelope making a silent appearance as the household continued with their daily lives, oblivious to the devastation it was going to cause. The letter was picked up amongst the rest of the mail, tossed onto a separate pile on the side, it's recipient unaware of its life shattering content.

"Caroline you've got mail sweetheart…I'm have to have to go to work." Liz called

She smiled popping her had around the kitchen door, acknowledging the letter. She'd see to it later. The front door closed, leaving Caroline to get on with the rest of the day. "Are you staying here today?" she asked her best friend "I know you're trying to avoid Damon, Elena…there is no other reason that you're sulking around my Mom's house at 8:15 on Monday morning."

"Hey! I wanted to see you, you've been so busy lately." Elena said "and if I just happen to not see my husband while I'm here then that's an added bonus."

Caroline rolled her eyes "Fine, suite yourself, but FYI, this little spat with Damon is silly and you know I'm totally team Elena…right if you're staying you can take care of things down here whilst I go and get ready"

Elena agreeing, Caroline went upstairs to change and took the time to do some house work for her mom. She cleaned the kitchen, the lounge, and the downstairs bathroom. She and Elena had coffee and Caroline managed to persuade her friend to go and talk to Damon. She was stood on the porch waving goodbye when she heard the noises in the kitchen.

She couldn't help but smile, she shut the door and took the letters from the side, going into the kitchen to open them. She organised herself and started to sort through the letters one by one…Junk mail, her Mom's, more junk… then she reached _that_ envelope. A frown took to her forehead as she eyed the logo in the corner, it wasn't one she recognised immediately, but somewhere there was a niggling feeling in her mind that she should have known what it was. It was unusual for letters addressed to her to be sent to her Mom's still as well.

Her fingers tore at the seal to get to the paper inside. She took a sip of her drink as she let her eyes run over the first few lines. The mug slid from her hand hitting the floor and splintering into thousands of pieces. One of them had changed their mind. She didn't have to guess who it was from, she didn't write letters to herself…

Her stomach flipped several times as she reread the letter. She broke down. The rest of the world blurring as her little world crashed down.

"Caroline are you still in?" Liz walked through the house hearing the crying from the kitchen she made her way to her daughter, seeing her completely breaking down. "Sweetheart what's happened?" She didn't talk, just stared at the piece of paper, her tears hitting the surface and blurring the letters slightly "come on little Man" Liz lifted his grandson from the highchair, where he was crying. He looked across to Caroline, she was completely unaware of her screaming son-she was pretty much unaware of anything "Talk to me Caroline"

"He's divorcing me…." She murmured

"What?"

"He's divorcing me" she repeated "That letter I got this morning was from his solicitor… he's filed for a divorce. After 6 months Mom, we've got a son."

Liz sat at the table her Grandson sat on her lap, babbling away. "I'm so sorry…" she reached for her hand "have you spoken to him?"

She shook her head "what's the point? I saw it coming, I'd practically packed up my things. I just thought he'd have the guts to give it a go, to try and make it work; for Noah at least. He thinks I'm cheating you know?"

"It's always been complicated with you two…I just…I can't believe it, I'm so sorry Caroline"

"I'm not ready Mom… I'm not ready to do this by myself. I can't be a single Mom." Caroline looked across and lifted Noah onto her lap.

"You can do it Caroline …your strong and brave…I'm here to help and your friends"

She nodded weakly placing a kiss to Noah's head, "I blame myself you know? If I'd have been a better wife" Liz stopped her straight away.

"No way Caroline, you can't blame yourself. You've done nothing wrong. You gave up your job to stay at home and look after Noah so he could go and work… nothing you've done is to blame honey…"

Liz hugged her daughter closely, holding her against her body. When Caroline had decided to marry, no one thought it was a practically good idea. Liz in particular was dead set against the idea and tried to convince her daughter otherwise, to convince them both, but Caroline had argued they had a child, and needed to make something stable for him.

"I'm going to take Noah out for a while…. Clear my head."

"Ok, I'll set up the spare room for you." Liz said, smiling sadly as Caroline took Noah and left the house.

Liz sat in the kitchen, a glass of Whisky in her hand. She'd cleaned up the broken mug from the floor and set up the guest bedroom for Caroline and Noah, knowing full well she wouldn't be returning home that night. The door sounded and she knew it wasn't Caroline, she still a set of keys and she hadn't long gone out. She just prayed it wasn't the idiot that was divorcing her baby.

She opened the door, inhaling when she saw who it was "she's not in…"

"Please Liz I need to see her"

"I've just told you, she's not in, she's took Noah out, she's upset…not that I need to tell you that." She went to shut the door

"Liz please I need to see if she's alright"

"Just leave it Stefan. Do not make me arrest you…" she said

Stefan sighed shaking his head and left.

Caroline was sat in the park with Noah, he'd fallen to sleep on the walk there, so she'd a lot of time to think and try to sort out the mess her head was in. How could he do it too her, to them? Her Mom was right. She was simply something to pass the time. She understand that feeling now, that this had always been on the cards, the cards with which she'd been dealt a really shit hand. She took her phone from her pocket as it vibrated, and automatically rejected the call as she saw the name.

"Ignoring me won't get you anywhere Caroline…" she sighed, leaning back as he sat next to her.

"What do you want Stefan?" she spat

"I went to your Mom's earlier, she said you were upset"

Caroline scoffed "upset doesn't cover it. How would you feel if you got divorce papers in the post?" she frowned "oh wait… that can't happen because you left your wife to be at the alter…"

"That's not fair Caroline!" he shot

"Ye well life's not fair is it? I found that out this morning" Stefan's hand settled on her shoulder as she let out a sob. "What do I do Stefan? How am I going to explain to Noah, that his Daddy has had enough, that he just left?"

"He'll still see him, he's his Dad" there was a rustle of paper as Caroline pulled the letter out and handed it to Stefan. "Is this it?" she nodded "Mrs C. Lockwood. This letter is to inform you that…." Stefan started reading the letter through. He got angrier by the second as he continued to read "so he's basically cutting all ties with you? He doesn't want anything to do with Noah either… low life piece of scum. How could even do this to you? Is he even allowed to do this without you knowing?"

Caroline nodded her head taking the letter back from him. "Ye, either person in the marriage can file for divorce, you just fill out this form and that's it. I've got 28 days to appeal the divorce through the divorce court, if not I get a lawyer and I agree to the divorce, I sign and then my marriage is over"

"And are you going to …sign them?" she nodded in response, her bottom lip wobbling. Stefan pulled her against him tucking her into his side "Everything's going to be alright Caroline, I promise you." She sniffed and pulled back from him.

"I've got your shirt all wet now…" she mumbled looking at the sodden patch on his t-shirt.

"Like I care about that… right now I just want to make sure that you and this little man are ok." he admitted looking at Noah. "I spoke to your Mom earlier, she doesn't seem my biggest fan right now, any idea why that is?"

Caroline groaned, a small smirk on her lips "She doesn't like how you always seem to be behind every row between me and Tyler. Tyler thinks I've been cheating on him…with you" Stefan's eyes widened "You have to admit it Stefan… you stand his cousin up at the alter and then we sleep together, he's got reason to think things are going on"

"That was before you and he even started seeing each other and I though what happened between us was a mistake? Never going to happen again" Stefan frowned seeing the slight tension on her face. He would never forget that night, never in a million years and he didn't want to forget it either.

"It was a mistake… but that didn't stop him from thinking it was more. He hated you. Every time we had a row, I always went to you, I told you I was pregnant first. You were with me when I went into labour you held my hand when I gave birth. You were where he should have been"

"Well he should have been there and not working god knows where when his pregnant fiancé was about to drop" Caroline reached for his hand, there was no love lost between Stefan and Tyler.

"I'm not blaming you… to be honest, there's so many times when you were there and I was glad it was you and not him. There's just something that keeps bringing me back to you… your like gravity, you keep me grounded."

Stefan stared into her eyes, they were filled with tension, hurt and a little anger too. His fingers reached out and brushed her hair behind her ear, "you deserve more than him Caroline, you and Noah do" the silence grew around them until Noah woke.

"Look Noah, its Stefan!" Caroline smiled lifting the 8 month old from the pushchair and passing him to Stefan.

"Hello little Man…" Stefan lifted Noah above his head throwing him gently and catching him again. A round of giggles erupted and Caroline smiled, Stefan was so good with him, always had been. There was a reason why he was his god father, most weeks Noah saw more of Stefan than he did his actually Dad.

"We should get going…" Stefan saw her tense as she stood up and took the breaks off the pushchair.

"Caroline?"

"I need to go to the house, I've got no things."

"I'll come with you if you like?"

She shook her head "That has disaster written all over it…I'll go and get what I need, would you take him back to my Mom's for me we're staying there."

"Of course I can… you could stay at mine you know? I've a perfectly good guest room…"

"Thanks Stefan but I think my Mom will want me home… I really appreciate the offer though"

Stefan made his way to Liz's with Noah, who was more than happy being without his Mommy. Lifting the buggy up the steps of the porch with ease Stefan looked down at Noah getting a gummy smile back. "Ye it's alright Mr, you haven't got to explain to your Nanny, what's going on with your Mummy" Noah closed his eyes and giggled Stefan just laughing too. He knocked on the door, it opening seconds later. "Hi"

"Where's Caroline?"

"I'm just here to bring Noah back… she's gone to get her stuff from their house."

Liz sighed and closed the door slightly behind them "Listen here Stefan…I don't know what you want from Caroline, but she's vulnerable right now. Whatever you had in the past is over she's just received the worst news and to be honest, I'd say you were partly to blame."

Stefan was about to respond when his phone began ringing. "Hello?"

"Stefan its Matt, you might want to get over to Care's, I'm outside theirs and whatever is going on inside definitely isn't good" Matt informed him.

"Alright, thank you for letting me know…I'll be 5 minutes."

Without much of an explanation to Liz, Stefan sped to his car, shooting off to Caroline's, a few blocks over. He pulled up next to Matt's cop car, frowning as he left his car and could hear the recognisable sound of Caroline's screaming.

"I can't get in Man, the front door is locked" Matt said

Stefan ran towards the house, rummaging in his back pocket for the spare key, it took around two seconds and he was in the house, he could hear yelling and things being thrown from up the stairs.

"You're a Dick! You're fucking cheating on me…" were the words that greeted Stefan as he found her in the bedroom standing opposite a rather scantily clothed Tyler, she was hitting his chest with force, screaming at him. "You've hurt me Tyler… we have a son. I've spent the whole day thinking what I've done wrong. And all this time… all this time you've been cheating on me. I hate you…I fucking hate you"

Stefan moved in and dragged her away from Tyler. Pulling her into his arms. "Come on Caroline… it's alright… come on"

She collapsed into his arms, sobbing against him, her hands clasping at his t-shirt. Stefan looked over the top of her head, seeing the brunette in the room scampering for her clothes. Caroline choose that moment to unravel herself from Stefan, her eyes connecting with the blonde.

"I'm sorry Caroline…"

"Are you serious?" Stefan laughed bitterly, Caroline's crying becoming louder as she ran her hands over her face "Come on, let's get you out of here." Stefan moved Caroline out of the bedroom and down the stairs passing Matt on the way. "I'm taking her to mine…"

"What's happened?" Matt questioned

"Ask him" Stefan nodded towards Tyler who was now more clothed on the stairs, trying to get to Caroline.

An hour later Stefan had finally got Caroline to stop crying, but now she was just sitting staring into thin air. He preferred it when she was crying at least she was doing something. The doorbell rang, Stefan going to answer it and returning a while later with a very grumpy looking Noah on his hip.

"Look who it is Mommy" he smiled sitting on the sofa next to Caroline. "Caroline…" she turned to him "Your Mom brought Noah over, she has to go back to work…"

"I'm sorry baby boy" she cried lifting him onto her lap "It's just going to be us now…"

Noah put his hand across her lips, Caroline blowing a raspberry against it. "Bye bye" he mumbled.

"Are you tired Mr?"

"Shall Uncle Stefan put you to bed? Let Mommy get changed?" Stefan lifted Noah into his arms and smiled at Caroline. There's stuff in my room. I'll put him in the guest room"

Stefan returned to the living room about half hour later, Caroline was sat in a pair of her leggings and one of his really baggy jumpers, curled into the cushions.

"He's fast asleep, took about four reads of that curious George book"

"Yeah he loves that one…Thank you, he really loves you too Stefan" she smiled

"He's a great kid… just like his Mom, she's pretty great too"

"I can't be all he needs Stefan…" she shook her head wiping her tears

"Don't talk stupid, you've practically raised him on your own. Caroline, Noah calls me Dad because Tyler hasn't been there"

"I've tried telling him you're not Daddy…" she sighed "he doesn't understand, you're the one he sees most of, the only time he sees Tyler is of a weekend if we're lucky."

Stefan shook his head "He was a shit husband Caroline and a doubly bad father. You're better off without him"

"I'll remind you of that in two months when I'm still living in your spare room with my 12 month old son" she smiled weakly watching his reaction, they were positively closer now than they had been when they'd first sat down, Caroline yawned trying and failing to hide it.

"Go to bed" Stefan laughed his finger gently grazing her thigh. "You're going to need your energy tomorrow"

Knowing Stefan was right she groggily got up from the sofa "I owe you big time Stefan" she whispered hugging him tightly as she disappeared into the guest room, the door shutting behind her.

After the initial shock of it all Caroline was finally getting back on her feet. Like she'd told Stefan she would, she had found a lawyer and signed the papers, not even bothering to argue with him over parental rights for Noah. It was probably best all round if Tyler wasn't involved, no child deserved to have a father like Tyler and Noah didn't even seem to notice he was gone.

It had been three months since the divorce had been finalised. 6 months in total since she'd first received the letter. The divorce had been quite simple, in respects of Caroline just sighing and agreeing. No appeal.

Caroline had rebuilt her life over the last few months. She and Noah had their own apartment now, the house had been sold the money going too Caroline as Tyler had very lovingly given her the house. But it held too many memories and she didn't want to stay there. So she'd moved into a two bedroom apartment near Stefan. It was perfect.

She'd decorated how she wanted, had everything how she'd dreamed. Noah had his own room, complete with Jungle theme, animals painted on the wall by his Mommy and Uncle Stefan (who had now pretty much become Daddy in Noah's eyes).

Caroline sat in her lounge working on the laptop as Noah played with his toys on the floor. The door opened and Stefan walked in. Noah toddling over to him.

"Daddy!"

"No Noah… it's Stefan" Noah looked at her eyes narrowing, "don't give me those eyes Mr" Stefan tickled him and placed him back on the floor. "What you doing here anyway?" Caroline asked running a hand over Noah's head as he pulled himself up from the floor.

"Hello to you too! I got you supplies" Stefan placed several bags of shopping onto the table.

"Thank you, but you really don't have to keep me, I'm alright now I'm back on track, your just humouring me now"

"Maybe I like "keeping" you, " he said using air quotes

"ye right, because that's what every single guy wants to be doing isn't it, they want to send all their free time with their 22 year old divorcee friend and son who calls them Dad."

"Ye actually Caroline I do. I love…spending time with you and Noah. You're more than just my friend, more than my best friend even…. And I wish Noah was my son."

"Stefan…" Caroline sighed

"I wish he was my son, and you were my wife, that we were a family" he moved closer towards her "I love you Caroline…"

Caroline swallowed the lump in her throat trying to stay calm. What did you do in a situation like this? She couldn't exactly deny there was something between them, there was SO much between them!

"You can't Love me Stefan, you're not allowed too" she shook her head willing the tears not to fall as the brimmed in her eyes.

"Well tough because I do love you. I always have done, you were 15 when we first met and ever since that day you've been the only one I wanted."

"Oh god…I'm the reason you didn't marry Katherine? She said you were in love with someone else. But she wouldn't tell me who. It was me…" Stefan nodded moving to sit next to her on the sofa. "And all those times you stood up for me against Tyler…"

"How much of that stuff did you think I was doing because I was a protective friend?" he smirked a little

"Well I can see it now…" she mumbled "How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long have you been in love with me Stefan?"

"I've told you Caroline… it's been since you were 15. We slept together when you were 20. Did you really think I was just using you to get over Katherine?"

"I know you were never using me Stefan, I just didn't think your feelings went that deep."

"Well they do, always have and always will. There's a reason you keep coming back to me Caroline and you know it. Look I better go, I should have never said anything"

Caroline shook her head, grasping his hand as he went to leave. "You were right to tell me. I'm glad you did."

"You are?" he asked shocked.

"Hmm hum… because now I don't feel so stupid as to how I'm feeling"

Caroline bit her lip as Stefan looked up from the floor "what?"

"I think I love you too… no, I know I do Stefan. I've been kidding myself all these years, I can't even say it was because of Noah because frankly, he'd have been better off with you as his Father. I was just scared. I was falling in love with my best friend."

"I think we can rightly say we've both been stupid" she nodded "Do you think it'd be ok to kiss you?"

Caroline giggled nodding "I think that would be more than ok"

Stefan gently drew her face towards his, meeting her lips with a kiss. It was a soft kiss, almost shy in a way, which starkly contrasted with his usual macho bravado. As their lips moved together in harmony that they hadn't quite been expecting.

"What?" Stefan sighed as Caroline pulled away giggling. "Caroline why are you laughing?"

"You taste like mint…" she admitted licking her lips with a grin.

"I do, do I?" she nodded "Noah, come tickle Mummy" he called to his godson, who quickly toddled over to them. Stefan lifted him up and started tickling Caroline, Noah laughing along. Stefan stealing small kisses from Caroline every now and then as she squirmed.

It was odd that it was happening so naturally between them, but there didn't seem to be any awkwardness. It almost seemed as if this was a common occurrence, something they were used to rather than the first time they'd kissed knowing it meant something. Stefan paused, his fingers combing through her hair then trailed softly down her spine. "ok ok I surrender!" Caroline shouted pulling Noah into her arms.

"I love you Caroline Lockwood"

"It's Forbes again now actually" she said raising her eyebrows

"So it is…I love you Caroline Forbes." Noah looked up "you too Mr."

"Say we Love you too" there was an attempt from Noah but nothing that was comprehensible.

"Car Mamma?" he questioned Caroline placing him on the floor to go and play. She leaned back into the sofa, Stefan's arm sliding over her shoulders.

"How do you feel?" Caroline kissed him softly savouring the feeling.

"Like I'm floating… no gravity."

 **Hope you enjoyed this little one shot :) and you'll be happy to know i'm in the process of writing another story too which should be up soon so keep your eyes peeled :) xx**


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